{"id":42761,"date":"2012-02-05T23:00:32","date_gmt":"2012-02-05T21:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=42761"},"modified":"2012-02-06T09:39:07","modified_gmt":"2012-02-06T07:39:07","slug":"google-search-dying-former-google-sa-head","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/internet\/42761-google-search-dying-former-google-sa-head.html","title":{"rendered":"Google (search) is dying: former Google SA head"},"content":{"rendered":"

The former head of Google<\/a> South Africa, Stafford Masie<\/a>, thinks Google\u2019s traditional business in search is shrinking and they\u2019ve got to do something about it.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the 2012 Product of the Year awards held at Summer Place, Sandton, last week (2 February 2012), Masie dropped a bombshell: \u201cGoogle is dying,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He qualified the statement, explaining that people are using social platforms like Facebook and Twitter<\/a> and asking questions there because they get more dynamic and personalised results.<\/p>\n

Masie related an anecdote of a recent trip to New York, where instead of searching on Google for a place to eat he received recommendations from his connections on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The result he got through the social network by querying his contacts rather than a search engine provided him with a better result, Masie said.<\/p>\n

\"Stafford<\/a>

Stafford Masie<\/p><\/div>\n

In a follow-up interview, Masie emphasised that Google itself isn\u2019t dying. \u201cThe pie of search query volumes in the world, that business is shrinking,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As an example, Masie pointed to Siri, the natural language speech interface Apple<\/a> bundled with the iPhone 4S. Siri uses Google as a last resort, Masie said, preferring results from other technologies before it starts using Google to get data back to the user.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a worrying factor,\u201d Masie said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that traditional search is not valuable or that consumers aren\u2019t using it anymore, Masie said. \u201cI just believe that\u2019s not where it\u2019ll be in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Masie is not alone in his belief that search as we know it is in decline. After the incorporation of Facebook “likes” into Microsoft’s<\/a> Bing search results last year (2011), the director of Bing told Huffington Post that traditional search is failing<\/a>.<\/p>\n